The lighting downstairs at the dormitory building was exceptionally dim. Xu Fang stood still, half of his face shrouded in shadow.
Lin Xi Chi also didn’t move. She stared at her wrist, calmly rubbing the slightly reddened area. She remained silent for a while, her lips gradually pursing.
After a moment, Xu Fang glanced at his phone’s time. “I’m leaving.”
Hearing this, Lin Xi Chi responded with a simple “Hmm” and lifted her head. She watched Xu Fang’s departing figure. After counting silently to ten in her heart, she rushed over, jumped up without hesitation, and used her arm to loop around Xu Fang’s neck, forcefully pushing his head down, making him shorter than her.
Xu Fang had no defense prepared. His body leaned forward as he stumbled a step, involuntarily uttering a curse.
He looked at Lin Xi Chi in utter bewilderment. “Are you crazy?”
“You’re the one who’s crazy.” Lin Xi Chi stared at Xu Fang’s face, her expression completely serious, devoid of any playful intent. Then, she extended her middle finger and lightly tapped his forehead while muttering some words, “Restless spirit, wandering ghost, I hereby warn you—”
She paused for a few seconds and continued in a stern voice, “Quickly, get out of my son’s body!”
Xu Fang: “…”
After waiting for a few seconds, Lin Xi Chi, with an expression of absolute certainty that Xu Fang had been possessed by a ghost, stared into his eyes. She waved her hand in front of his face and cautiously asked, “…Did it leave?”
Taking a deep breath, Xu Fang restrained his temper, tensing his whole body.
“Do you want me to beat you to death?” he retorted.
“Oh.” Lin Xi Chi let go of her arm. “It seems like it left.”
After being handled like this by her, Xu Fang momentarily forgot why he had been in a bad mood earlier. He grabbed her head with one hand and pushed in the direction of the dormitory building.
“Get lost.”
Lin Xi Chi pried his hand off her head, frowning. “A-Pi, if you’re in a bad mood, you should tell me.”
“I’m not in a bad mood.”
“You don’t tell me anything.” Lin Xi Chi yelled at him as she walked back. “Anyway, I’m going to ask Jiang Zhengxu later. I’m your best friend. If he tells me that you went to him for comfort, I’ll cut off our father-son relationship!”
“…”
After she entered the dormitory building, Xu Fang slowly walked back.
Xu Fang went to the university supermarket and bought a bottle of cold water. He took a few sips and finished the whole bottle in an instant. He rubbed his eyelids and tossed the empty bottle into a nearby trash can.
He was about to head back to the dormitory when his phone rang.
Caller ID: Jiang Zhengxu.
Xu Fang paused for a moment, swiped to answer the call, and didn’t say anything initially. He walked over to a chair outside the supermarket, propped one foot up on the iron railing in the middle of the chair, his entire face bathed in shadow, concealing his emotions.
From the earpiece came Jiang Zhengxu’s voice, “Fang’er, your lady friend came to see me again. Can’t you control her a bit?”
Xu Fang chuckled softly but didn’t reply.
“You two are something else,” Jiang Zhengxu sighed, understanding the reason now. “I’m just a guy who doesn’t care about your business, and yet I’m feeling anxious for you.”
Hearing this, Xu Fang laughed again. “What are you anxious about?”
“Can’t you just be straightforward?” Jiang Zhengxu advised him, “I told you the other day, I went to her dormitory to confess because she was upset. Now, look at me. Those troubles from before seem like jokes. I’m living the good life now.”
“…”
“You’ve liked her for how many years, and you never dared to confess.”
Xu Fang replied softly, “It’s different.”
“How is it different?” Jiang Zhengxu pondered for a moment. “You’re afraid that Lin Xi Chi doesn’t like you, right? Let me tell you, I think your chances are pretty good. I asked her about her criteria for choosing a partner in the future.”
Xu Fang’s eyes flashed, and he asked stiffly, “What did she say?”
“Jiang Zhengxu,” Xu Fang inquired, “what did she say exactly?”
“She was very clear,” Jiang Zhengxu replied, “she wants someone better looking than you, with a better temper than you, better grades than you, basically, everything better than you. She wants to utterly overshadow you in every way.”
Xu Fang restrained his urge to hang up and retorted with a wry smile, “Are you intentionally trying to make me feel bad?”
“How am I making you feel bad? In essence, she’s using you as the benchmark for comparison, isn’t she?”
“You’re overthinking it,” Xu Fang’s voice remained calm. “What she said is no different from ‘I want a boyfriend like my dad’.”
“I see…”
“I’ve known her for how many years,” Xu Fang sighed with self-deprecation. “If she liked me, it would have happened a long time ago.”
Suddenly, Xu Fang remembered their senior year in high school.
He sat behind Lin Xi Chi, resting his head on his desk. She was chatting with her desk mate, and the classroom wasn’t quiet during breaks, but his attention was solely focused on her. Although he could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation, he could still make out the gist.
They were talking about him.
She was asking what she should do if Xu Fang confessed his feelings for her.
He still vividly remembered that feeling back then, his heart pounding, torn between wanting to know the answer and being afraid to hear it, anxiously waiting for her response.
However, Lin Xi Chi firmly and jokingly shook her head, treating it as a ridiculous notion, and repeatedly said it was impossible. Finally, after her desk mate persistently pressed her for an answer, he heard her say something very softly but seriously.
“In that case, I might feel really awkward…”
…
…
“Damn, I must have lost my mind tonight,” Xu Fang swallowed hard, touching the back of his head. He stood up and headed back to the dormitory. “Alright, I’m hanging up.”
Not getting any reliable information from Jiang Zhengxu, Lin Xi Chi originally intended to continue pestering Xu Fang. But when she thought about his demeanor earlier, how he had claimed that he was in a bad mood but refused to disclose the reason, she gave up.
After contemplating for a while, she sent him a WeChat message: [I’ll treat you to dinner tomorrow, consider it a loan. How does that sound?]
She waited for a response but didn’t get one.
Lin Xi Chi added: [Even if it bankrupts me.]
After sending the messages, Lin Xi Chi checked her phone for Xu Fang’s reply. However, strict rules were enforced in the university dormitories, especially for freshmen and sophomores. At 10:30 PM, there was a mandatory roll call and lights out, and students were not allowed to use their phones after that.
Lin Xi Chi couldn’t wait any longer for Xu Fang’s reply, so she reluctantly put away her phone and picked up a textbook related to her major to read.
On the other side, Xu Fang grabbed his phone and left his bed, heading to the bathroom. After composing himself for a while, he glanced at the two messages from Lin Xi Chi and raised an eyebrow. Then, a slight smile tugged at his lips, and he felt a sense of relief.
Lin Xi Chi: [Have you ever seen someone willing to go bankrupt for the sake of a friend?]
Lin Xi Chi: [It’s me.]
At the same time, Xu Fang’s phone vibrated again.
Jiang Zhengxu had sent him a WeChat message: [Hey, why do I feel like you’re acting like a moody young girl who’s constantly emotional, and nothing anyone says can help?]
Xu Fang squinted his eyes, lazily sending a reply: [Get lost.]
Jiang Zhengxu: [Back to normal, huh?]
Jiang Zhengxu: [What’s normal? I confessed to her on impulse, under a moment of inspiration.]
Xu Fang: [Let me ask you a question. Has Lin Xi Chi ever treated you to a meal?]
Jiang Zhengxu: [Haha, possibly, has she?]
Xu Fang was in a great mood and replied with a smile: [She said she’s willing to go bankrupt for my sake.]
Jiang Zhengxu: […]
Jiang Zhengxu couldn’t help but deflate his enthusiasm and replied, [She probably just considers you a good friend.]
Xu Fang: [For now, maybe. But you never know about the future.]
Xu Fang: [As for the rest, just keep a close watch.]
Jiang Zhengxu: “…”
The one who had just said, “If you’ve liked her for how many years,” was who?
Jiang Zhengxu continued to tease him: [What if Lin Xi Chi never has feelings for you in her lifetime?]
Xu Fang stared at that sentence for a long time, his eyes deepening in color. Suddenly, he chuckled and licked his lips. Then, he casually typed out a response.
[In that case, she’ll never find a boyfriend in her lifetime.]
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